McGwire ‘ecstatic' as he joins Dodgers staff

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INDIAN WELLS A key to his run as one of the most feared sluggers in baseball history, Mark McGwire said, was being “one of the toughest mentally prepared players ever.”

The Dodgers are hoping a little of that rubs off on them.

The Dodgers made it official Wednesday, announcing that McGwire had agreed to join the team's staff as hitting coach. The team will continue with a two-man approach to the job. It's a growing trend with many teams — including the St. Louis Cardinals during McGwire's three-year tenure as hitting coach there.

John Valentin is expected to be named assistant hitting coach later this week. A veteran of 11 big league seasons as a player, Valentin has been coaching in the Dodgers' minor league system since 2008 and spent last season as the Triple-A hitting coach.

McGwire rejected a contract extension from the Cardinals in order to accept the position with the Dodgers where he will be able “to live at home and work at home.”

McGwire attended Damien High of La Verne and starred at USC. He lives in Irvine's Shady Canyon with his wife and five of his six children.

“Things just worked out perfectly,” McGwire said. “It just fell into place. I'm ecstatic. I can't wait to get started.”

McGwire will be charged with getting the most from a lineup loaded with former All-Stars — and highly paid stars at that — which underachieved down the stretch this past season, crippling the Dodgers' playoff hopes. Dodgers GM Ned Colletti said he targeted McGwire to be the team's new hitting coach because of the work he saw him do in St. Louis.

“Whenever St. Louis was coming into town or we'd be playing them or after the series, I'd talk to guys and they always said St. Louis was really tough,” Colletti said. “They adjust game to game, at-bat to at-bat. They adjust within an at-bat. There was a thought process.

“I think there's two parts to hitting. There's the mechanical part and there's the thought process. I think when you get to the big leagues you can hit. You have the mechanical basis to hit. It's really about the thought process. … We have a chance to be a very good hitting club. We have great hitters. I believe we need a thought process that is more refined in a disciplined way.”

In McGwire's three seasons as hitting coach, the Cardinals finished in the NL's top three in runs scored two times, in the top three for batting average and OPS each of the three seasons — despite losing Albert Pujols from their lineup this past season.

“The mind is the most powerful thing on your body and that's what I want to get across,” McGwire said of his coaching philosophy. “The sooner these guys learn the game is mental, the better they are going to be in the long run.”

NOTES

Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw was named a finalist for the NL Cy Young Award. Washington left-hander Gio Gonzalez and New York Mets right-hander R.A. Dickey are the other finalists. The winners of all the major offseason awards (Cy Young, MVP, Rookie of the Year and Manager of the Year) will be announced next week on MLB Network. Kershaw won the NL Cy Young Award in 2011 and is the first Dodgers pitcher to finish in the top 3 in consecutive seasons since Fernando Valenzuela in 1981 and '82. … Colletti said he is targeting a starting pitcher who could fit in the “upper half” of the Dodgers' starting rotation this offseason and it is “unlikely” that player can be had in a trade. The Dodgers are expected to be among the suitors for right-hander Zack Greinke, the best starter available on the free-agent market this winter.

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